Apparatus for varying the number of courses in knitted articles



Sept. 18, 1962 w. H. LEWIS 3,054,281 APPARATUS FOR VARYING THE. NUMBER OF COURSES IN KNITTED ARTICLES Filed Jan. 18, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Val Q 42 5 --1oz 1 45 I (6e 47 55 I40 44 I42 l4l 4s I 'i/j INVENTOR: Q S WIUJAM HowARb LE-WlS ATTORNEYS P 18, 1962 w. H. LEWIS 3,954,281

APPARATUS FOR VARYING THE NUMBER OF COURSES IN KNITTED ARTICLES Filed Jan. 18, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

U -44, 8% gym WILUAM HowARb LEMS rn. PMM+ W ATTORNEYS Se t. 18, 1962 w. H. LEWIS 3,054,281

APPARATUS FOR VARYING THE NUMBER OF COURSES IN KNITTED ARTICLES Filed Jan. 18, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 I20 0 I T us 16 7 -5 '4 m I 5 70a '28 INVENTOR. WILLIAM HOWARD LEwvs BYQ MAM+W ATTORNEYS W. H. LEWIS Sept. 18, 1962 APPARATUS FOR VARYING THE NUMBER OF COURSES IN KNITTED ARTICLES Filed Jan. 18, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. WILLIAM HOWARD Lewus BYEAH *5 by ATTORNEYS APPARATUS FOR VARYING THE NUMBER OF COURSES IN KNITTED ARTICLES Filed Jam 18, 1961 W. H. LEWIS Sept. 18, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent ()fifice 3,054,281 Patented Sept. 18, 1962 3,054,281 APPARATUS FOR VARYHNG THE NUER F COURSES IN KNITTED ARTICLES William Howard Lewis, Asheboro, N.C., assignor to Acme-McUrary Corporation, Ashehoro, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed Jan. 18, 1961, Ser. No. 83,422 12 Claims. (Cl. 66-455) This invention relates generally to improvements in circular knitting machines of the type adapted to knit hosiery and the like and having a pattern chain which is normally moved in a continual step-by-step manner to control the number of courses knit in selected portions of the hose to thereby control the size of the hose produced. More particularly, the present invention r lates to improvements in the type of machine described which includes pattern chain idler means adapted to periodically stop the normal step-by-step advancement of the pattern chain for predetermined periods and to thereby vary the length of the leg and/ or foot portions of the hose produced thereby.

In the conventional circular hosiery knitting machine, the pattern chain is made up of a plurality of interconnected links and a racking pawl continuously moves the pattern chain forward a distance of one-third of a chain link with every four revolutions of the needle cylinder so that when the chain is advanced one link, twelve courses of knitting are formed. The pattern chain is normally provided with the proper number of links to produce a hose having a given number of circular courses in the leg and a given number of circular courses in the foot. When it is desired to knit hose having longer or shorter legs and/ or foot portions, it is the usual practice to add one or more links in the proper portions of the pattern chain to increase the number of courses knit in the leg and/or foot and to remove one or more links from the pattern chain to decrease the number of courses knit in the leg and/or foot of the hose produced. This procedure of adding to and removing links from the pattern chain can be costly and time-consuming when a large number of knitting machines are involved. Also, there is a danger that the pattern chain will not be properly adjusted, as to length, and this will make the machine produce hose which are not the desired length.

Also, the practice of changing the number of courses knit in the leg and foot portions of the hose by adding or removing links of the pattern chain results in the length variation being restricted to multiples of twelve courses since the addition of a single link from the chain will result in the machine producing an additional twelve courses.

With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for varying the number of courses in knitted articles, such as hosiery, which includes means for rendering the pattern chain inoperative for selected predetermined lengths of time during the knitting of the legs and/or foot portions of hose produced and thereby vary the number of circular courses in the leg and/ or foot by any desired number.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pattern chain idler of the type described which may be manually set to cause the knitting machine to produce hosiery having a wide range of leg and foot lengths without requiring the addition or removal of links in the pattern chain.

It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a pattern chain idler of the type described which includes a pawl control member which is engageable with the pattern chain racking pawl for at times rendering the same inoperative and manually adjustable control fingers operatively connected to the pawl control member and operated by cams on a main rack wheel and which control fingers are positioned in a clear and easily accessible position on the knitting machine whereby the control fingers may be easily adjusted to produce hose having different lengths.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of the righthand side of a circular knitting machine with parts broken away for purposes of clarity and showing the pattern chain idler applied thereto;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the knitting machine, looking at the right-hand side of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the rack wheel and control fingers of the pattern chain idler, being taken substantially along the line 3-3 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional plan view beneath the rack wheel, taken substantially along the line 44 in FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary elevation of the rack wheel and control fingers of the pattern chain idler, looking in the direction of the line 5-5 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is an exploded isometric view of the upper end of the rack wheel and the starter block for at times moving the rack wheel;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the rack wheel in the position occupied when starting the knitting of the leg portion of the stocking;

FIGURE 8 is a view similar to FIGURE 7 except showing the rack wheel moved to the position occupied when knitting the heel of the stocking;

FIGURE 9 is a view similar to FIGURE 8 except showing the racking wheel in the position occupied when starting the knitting of the foot of the stocking;

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view through the central portion of the rack wheel, taken substantially along the line 10-10 in FIGURE 9.

As shown in the drawings, the pattern chain idler of the present invention is shown attached to a Scott & Williams Model KN circular hosiery knitting machine, however, it is to be understood that the present pattern chain idler could also be used in connection with other types of circular hosiery knitting machines. The conventional parts of the knitting machine shown in the drawings will be described first and then the parts of the pattern chain idler of the present invention will then be described.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, the knitting machine has a base 20 supported on legs 21 and the base 20 supports a main frame 22. The upper portion of the main frame 22 supports a lower bed plate 23 and an upper bed plate 24 which support the needle cylinder, not shown, for rotary and reciprocatory movement. The machine is also provided with a loose or idle pulley 25, a slow speed pulley 26 and a high speed pulley 27 which are supported on a main drive shaft, not shown, for at times imparting rotation or reciprocation to the needle cylinder in a conventional manner. A manual crank handle 30 is secured to one end of the main drive shaft for at times imparting manual rotation to the machine.

The pulleys 25-27 are adapted to be rotated by a belt, not shown, in a conventional manner to impart continuous rotation to a gear 32 (FIGURE 1) which is fixed on one end of a crank shaft 33 mounted for rotation in the main frame 22. The crank shaft 33 extends within the machine frame 22 and has a gear 34 (FIGURE 2) fixed on the inner end thereof. The gear 34 has the upper end of a crank arm 35' connected thereto in elf-center relationship and the lower end of the crank arm 35 is connected to a segmental gear 36. The segmental gear 36 is oscillatably mounted on a shaft 40 (FIGURE 1), carried by the main frame 22. The upper portion of the segmental gear 36 engages the conventional reciprocal gear of the machine, not shown, to at times impart reciprocatory motion to the needle cylinder in a conventional manner.

When the machine is in operation, the gear 34 continually rotates so that the crank arm 35 continually reciprocates the segmental gear 36. A chain racking pawl 41 and a drum racking pawl 42 (FIGURE 1) are connected at their rear ends to the lower portion of the segmental gear 36 and their forward ends engage a chain racking wheel 43 and drum racking wheel 44 respectively. The chain rack wheel 43 has an integrally formed sprocket wheel 45 which supports a pattern chain 46 made up of a plurality of interconnected chain links. The chain rack wheel 43 and sprocket 45 are supported for rotation on a pattern cam shaft 50 (FIGURE 1) which is mounted for rotation in the main frame 22. The drum racking wheel 44 is fixed on the pattern cam shaft 50 and rotation of the sprocket wheel 44 by the pawl 42, in a conventional manner, imparts step-by-step movement to a main pattern drum 52 (FIGURE 2), through a gear train, including a gear 53 fixed on the inner end of the main pattern drum 52.

The gear 32 (FIGURE 1) has a cam 55 fixed thereto which engages the upper end of an auxiliary clutch shipper racking lever or bell crank 56 which is pivotally supported intermediate its ends on the shaft 40. The lower end of the bell crank 56 has a pawl, not shown, adapted to engage and rotate the conventional belt shifter drum of the machine, not shown. Thus, when the machine is in operation, the bell crank 56 will be continually reciprocated by the cam 55 carried on the gear 32.

Also, continuous rotation of the gear 34 will cause the segmental gear 36 to continually reciprocate and impart continuous reciprocation to the pattern chain pawl 41 to thereby continuously rack the pattern chain 46 in a stepby-step manner. The driving mechanism of the machine is arranged in such a manner that the racking pawl 41 moves the pattern chain racking wheel 43 one step forward with each four revolutions of the needle cylinder and the pattern chain 46 is advanced one-third the length of one of the chain links with each four courses so that the needle cylinder makes twelve revolutions for each complete chain link.

The pattern chain 46 has suitable lugs 47 thereon which engage one end of a pawl controller, not shown, and the other end of the pawl controller controls operation of the pattern drum pawl 42. Although the pattern drum pawl 42 is continuously oscillated, it does not continuously rack the drum rack wheel 44 but only racks the same in response to the lugs 47 on the pattern chain 46 to thereby impart step-by-step movement to the main pattern drum 52 during certain portions of operation of the machine, when it is desired to move the main pattern drum 52.

The driving mechanism and pattern chain heretofore described are conventional parts of a Scott & Williams circular hosiery knitting machine such as is shown in the patent to Scott, No. 1,152,850, which may be referred to for a clear showing of the details of the driving mechanism. In the present application, only the portions of the machine have been shown which are necessary to illustrate the operation of the pattern chain idler mechanism of the present invention.

The pattern chain idler of the present invention includes a pattern chain pawl control lever 60 (FIGURES 1 and 2) which is pivotally supported intermediate its ends as at 61 on the lower portion of a bearing housing 62 which is in turn fixed to the main frame 22. The forward end of the control lever 60 extends inwardly within the main frame 22 and underlies the pattern chain racking pawl 41. The rear end of the control lever 60 is suitably connected, as at 64, to the lower end of a vertically disposed and movable connector bar 657 The connector bar 65 is supported for vertical movement in the rearmost portion of a lower plate 66 (FIGURES 1 and 2), the forward end of which is suitably supported on the bearing housing 62, and in the outer end of an upper support plate 70. The support 4- plate 70 extends forwardly and its forward end is fixed on the upper end of a bracket 71 (FIGURE 1) which is supported at its lower end on the upper surface of the main frame 22.

The connector bar 65 is normally urged upwardly by a tension spring 72, the lower end of which is suitably connected to the connector bar 65 and the upper end of which is suitably connected to the support plate 70 (FIGURE 1). The upper end of the connector bar 65 is fixed to one end of a control finger positioning plate 74 (FIGURES 3 and 5) having a plurality of notches or slots 75 cut in the upper edge thereof. An indicator plate 76 is fixedly secured to and in spaced relation behind the adjustment plate 74 by spacer screws 77, for purposes to be later described.

The rearmost ends of respective leg and foot control fingers St) and 81 are reduced and fit into selected ones of the slots 75 in the control finger adjustment plate 74 (FIGURES 3 and 5). Medial portions of the leg and foot control fingers 80 and 81 are mounted for pivotal movement on and longitudinal movement along the medial portion of a shaft 82. Opposite ends of the shaft 82 are suitably secured in the upper ends of the vertical arms of a U-shaped support member 85. The horizontal portion of the U-shaped support member 85 is suitably secured to the lower surface of the upper support plate 70.

The forward end of the respective leg and foot control fingers 8t and 81 have reading ends which are normally urged into resilient engagement with the upper surface of a horizontally disposed rack or pattern wheel and they are at times raised by engagement with respective leg earns 91 and foot cams 92 fixed on the upper surface of the rack wheel 90. The leg and foot cams 91 and 92 vary in length and the leg and foot control fingers 80 and 81 may be positioned in alinement with selected ones of the respective leg and foot cams 91 and 92, in a manner to be later described.

When the forward ends of the leg and foot control fingers 8t and 81 are in engagement with the upper surface of the rack wheel 99, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 5, the tension spring 72 (FIGURE 1) will urge the connector bar 65 to its uppermost position to hold the pattern chain pawl control lever 60 in the position shown in FIGURE 1 with its forward end out of engagement with the pattern chain racking pawl 41. When the inner end of the lever 60 is out of engagement with the pawl 41, the conventional driving mechanism of the knitting machine will cause the pawl 41 to impart continual stepby-step movement to the rack wheel 43, sprocket 45 and pattern chain 46.

On the other hand, when either of the control fingers 8t) and 81 is raised by the respective cams 91 and 92, in a manner to be later described, the rear ends of the control fingers 8t] and 81 will be lowered in FIGURE 1 to thereby lower the connector bar 65 and rock the lever 60 in a clockwise direction from that shown in FIGURE 1 so that the forward end of the lever 60 will raise the pawl 41 out of racking engagement with the teeth on the pattern chain rack wheel 43. Although continual reciprocation is still imparted to the pawl 41, the pattern chain 46, sprocket 45 and the rack wheel 43, it will not rotate because the racking pawl 41 is held out of racking engagement with the rack wheel 43 until the leg or foot cams 91 or 92 move out of engagement with the respective control fingers 80 or 81. When the control fingers 30 or 81 move off of the cam 91 or 92, the tension spring 72 will raise the connector bar 65 to rock the lever 61' in a counterclockwise direction, in FEGURE 1, and allow the reciprocating pawl 41 to engage the teeth of the rack wheel 43 and impart continuous step-by-stcp movement to the pattern chain 46, in the conventional manner.

The rack wheel 90 is rotatably supported adjacent the upper end of a vertically disposed drive shaft 95 which is rotatable independently of rotation of the rack wheel 90. The shaft 95 is rotatably supported adjacent its lower end in the bearing housing 62 (FIGURE 2) and adja cent its upper end in a bearing member 96 (FIGURES 4 and 5) which is suitably secured to the upper support plate 70. The upper portion of the shaft 95 has a pair of spacer collars 1% and 1131 (FIGURE 5 fixed tiereto and the collar 1111} supports a downwardly depending hub 90a on the rack wheel 91 while the collar 1111 su ports the vertically disposed shaft 95 on the upper surface of the bearing member 96. The lower portion of the shaft 95 is also provided with a support collar 1132 which is fixed thereto (FIGURE 2) and which rotatably supports the shaft 95 against the upper surface of the bearing housing 62.

The outer periphery of the rack wheel 96 is provided with a first series of racking teeth 1119, a second series of racking teeth 1 11} (FIGURES 3 and 7 through 9), a wide blank portion 111 and a relatively narrow blank portion 112. The wheel 91) is at times racked by a pawl 113, the outer end of which is pivotally mounted, as at 114, on the outer end of a racking lever 115 (FIGURES 3 and 4). The racking lever 115 extends inwardly beneath the racking wheel (FIGURE 4) as and its inner end is bent downwardly and fixed to a collar 116 mounted for oscillation on the vertically disposed shaft 95 and between the spacer collars 1G0 and 1111 (FIGURE 5).

The free end of the pawl 113 is resiliently urged into engagement with the outer periphery of the rack Wheel 90 by a tension spring 120 (FIGURE 4), one end of which is suitably connected intermediate the ends of the pawl 113 and the other end of which is suitably con nected intermediate the ends of the racking lever 115. Referring to FIGURE 4, it will be noted that the upper support plate 70 has an outwardly extending arm 713a which slidably supports a vertically movable push rod 121 having an inclined cam surface 122 at its upper end (FIGURE which is adapted to engage one side of the racking lever 115 as the rod 121 is moved vertically.

The racking lever 115 is resiliently urged into engagement with the cam surface 122 on the upper end of the vertical push rod 121 by a tension spring 123 (FIGURE 4), one end of which is suitably connected intermediate the ends of the lever 115 and the other end of which is suitably connected to a plate member 124. The plate 124 has a hole 125 therein which receives the upper end of the push rod 121 (FIGURES 4 and 10). The plate 124 is suitably supported to overlie the lever 115 on the upper end of a support bar 126, the lower end of which is suitably secured to one Side of the outwardly extending arm 70a of the support plate 71). The arm 711a has the lower end of a post 127 fixed thereto (FIG- URES 2 and 4) and the upper end of the post supports an adjustable stop screw 128 that bears against and limits rearward movement of the racking lever 115 (FIG- URE 4).

The lower portion of the push rod 121 (FIGURES 1 and 2) is supported for vertical sliding movement in the outer end of a bracket 130, the inner end of which is suitably supported on the machine frame 22. The lower end of the push rod 121 is urged into engagement with the upper cam surfaced end of an actuator lever 131 by a tension spring 132, the upper end of which is suitably secured to a collar 133 fixed on the push rod 121 and the lower end of which is suitably secured to the bracket 130 (FIGURE 1). The lower end of the actuator lever 131 is oscillatably supported, as at 134, on the bearing housing 62 and the forward surface of the actuator lever 131 is positioned in alinement with and engaged by the upper arm of the bell crank 56 (FIGURE 1). Thus, oscillation is imparted to the actuator lever 131 with rotation of the gear 32 and engagement of the bell crank 56 by the cam 55 carried on the continually rotating gear 32.

During operation of the machine, the push rod 121 is continuously reciprocated up and down to impart con- 6 tinuous oscillation to the lever 115 and the racking pawl 113. Thus, the pawl 113 will impart step'by-step rotation to the rack wheel 91} until the blank portions 111, 112 are engaged by the racking pawl 113.

At times, the rack wheel is rotated by movement of the main pattern drum 52 to impart rotation to the vertical drive shaft 95. To this end, the lower end of the shaft has a bevel gear (FIGURES l and 2) fixed thereto which mates with a bevel gear 141, fixed on one end of a horizontal drive shaft 142. The drive shaft 142 is rotatably mounted in the bearing housing 62 and a bearing member 143 (FIGURE 2) which is secured to the rear of the frame 22. The end of the horizontal shaft 142 opposite the bevel gear 141 has a pinion 144- fixed thereto which mates with the drive gear 53 on the inner end of the main pattern drum 52. Thus, any time that step-'by-step movement is imparted to the main pattern drum 52, in a conventional manner, rotation will be imparted to the vertically disposed shaft 95 through the gear arrangement just described.

The upper end of the drive shaft 95 has a starter block (FIGURES 3 and 6 through 10) fixedly secured thereto and the block extends upwardly above the upper face of the rack wheel 90. The starter block 151) supports first and second L-shaped starter arms 151 and 152 which are pivotally supported, as at 151a and 152a re spectively, in slots cut in the upper surface of the starter block 150 (FIGURE 6). The inner end of the arm- 1'52 crosses over the inner end of the arm 151 and the outer ends of both arms 151, 152 extend downwardly and closely adjacent the outer periphery of the starter block .150. It will be noted that the downwardly extending portion of the arm 152 extends downwardly further than the arm 151 and has a cam surface at the lower portion thereof, for purposes to be later described.

The lower ends of the arms 151 and 152 are normally urged downwardly against the outer periphery of the starter block 150 by the upper end of a pin 153 (FIGURE 6) which is slidably mounted in a bore 154 in the upper end of the shaft 95. The pin 153 is resiliently urged upwardly by a compression spring 155 which is positioned beneath the pin 153 and in the bore 154. The upper end of the pin 153 urges the inner ends of the arms 151 and 152 upwardly and holds the inner portions of the arms 151 and 152 in substantially a horizontal position, as shown in FIGURE 10.

The rack wheel 90 is provided with a first starter pin (FIGURES 3 and 69), the lower end of which is fixed in the upper surface of the rack wheel 90 and the upper end of which is adapted to at times be engaged by the first starter arm 151. A second starter pin 161 is secured for vertical movement in the rack wheel 90 and is normally urged to its lowermost position by a spring wire 164 (FIGURE 10), one end of which penetrates the pin 161 and the other end of which is suitably secured to the upper surface of the rack wheel 91) by a screw 165. It will be noted in FIGURES 4, 8, 9 and 10 that the upper inner surface of the plate 124 is provided with an inclined cam surface 166 which is engaged by the lower end of the vertically movable starter pin 161 as the rack wheel 91 is rotated. As shown in FIGURE 10, when the lower end of the second starter pin 161 engages and moves up the cam surface 166 to the upper surface of the plate 124, the pin 161 will be raised against the spring pressure of the wire 164 toits upper level, for purposes to be later described.

Operation When the pattern chain idler of the present invention is added to a circular hosiery knitting machine, the proper number of links are removed from the pattern chain 46 so that the machine will produce a hose having the smallest size leg and foot hose which will be required. Then the pattern chain idler of the present invention is employed to stop movement of the pattern chain 46 for any desired length of time during the knitting of the leg and/ or foot to thereby vary the size of the hose being knit in accordance with the length of time that racking of the pattern chain 46 is discontinued.

Before starting the knitting of a hose, the respective leg and foot control fingers 80 and 81 are manually moved and set in the proper location to produce the desired number of courses in the leg and foot of the hose. The control fingers 8t) and 31 may be shifted longitudinally along the shaft 32 (FIGURE 3), to aline their forward or reading ends with any ones of the desired leg and foot cams 91 and 92 on the rack wheel 50, by merely pushing downwardly on the plate 74 to thus lower the connector bar 65 against the tension spring 71 and thereby move the rear ends of the control fingers 8t and 81 out of the notches 75 provided in the upper edge of the plate 74 It will be noted in FIGURE 5 that the foot control finger 81 is positioned in the notch corresponding to the number 3 on the indicator plate 7s and the leg control finger S is positioned in the notch corresponding to the number 6 on the indicator plate 76. With the control fingers 3t and 81 set in this position, a hose having a relatively long leg and a size 10 foot will be produced and the knitting of one hose will be described with the control fingers 8t 81 set in this position.

As is well known, the top and welt of the hose is knit first and during the knitting of this portion of the hose, the rack wheel 90 of the pattern chain idler is positioned substantially as shown in FIGURE 3 with the forward or reading ends of the control fingers 80 and 31 in engagement with the upper surface of the rack wheel The forward end of the pattern chain pawl control lever 60 is out of engagement with the pattern chain racking pawl 41 (FIGURE 1) so that the pattern chain 46 is moved in a continuous step-by-step manner one-third of the length of one link with each four courses of knitting.

As soon as the machine begins to operate, the bell crank 56 (FIGURE 1) will impart movement to the actuator lever 131 to thereby impart continuous vertical reciprocation to the push rod 121 which will in turn impart continuous reciprocation to the racking pawl 113. However, as shown in FIGURE 3, the blank portion 111 of the rack wheel 90 is positioned opposite the pawl 113 and therefore, the racking pawl 113 will not advance the racking wheel 90 until the same is rotated far enough to position the teeth 1%) beneath the racking pawl 113.

During the knitting of the welt of the hose, the pattern drum 52 is rotated in a step-by-step manner, through means of the racking pawl 42, transfer of stitch loops from the hooks in the dial to the cylinder needles and other conventional operations. As rotation is imparted to the main pattern drum 52, rotation will be imparted to the gear 144 (FIGURE 2), shaft 142, gears 141 and 14%, vertical shaft 95, starter block 150 and to the first and second starter arms 151 and 152. As rotation is imparted to the starter block 150, in a clockwise direction in FIGURE 3, the first starter arm 151 will engage the first starter pin 160 to impart clockwise rotation to the rack wheel 91) as the main pattern drum 52 is rotated.

The rack wheel 90 is rotated from the position shown in FIGURE 3 to substantially the position shown in FIGURE 7 by the first starter arm 151. As shown in FIGURE 7, the racking pawl 113 will then engage the first of the teeth 169 on the outer periphery of the racking wheel 91). As has heretofore been explained, the racking pawl 113 is continuously reciprocated so that it will then rotate the rack wheel t} in a clockwise direction in FIG- URE 7 and in a step-by-step manner.

As the rack wheel 90 starts to rotate from the position shown in FIGURE 7, the forward end of the leg control finger 80 will be raised as it moves one of the leg cams 91 on the upper surface of the rack wheel )0. When the forward end of the leg control finger 80 moves up onto to effect yarn changes, 1

one of the leg cams 91, the control finger will be rocked about the shaft 82 in a clockwise direction in FIGURE 1, thus lowering the rearmost end thereof and lowering the plate 74 and the connector bar 65. Lowering of the connector bar 65 will rock the pattern chain pawl control lever 60 in a counterclockwise direction and cause the forward end thereof to hold the pattern chain racking pawl 41 out of racking engagement with the teeth on the ratchet 43, thereby stopping movement of the pattern chain, until the leg control finger 80 moves oil of the leg cam 91. It will be noted that the leg cams 91 vary in length and therefore the length of time that the chain racking pawl 41 is held out of engagement with the ratchet 43 will vary in accordance with the length of time that the forward end of the leg control finger is raised by the leg earns 91.

With continued movement of the racking wheel 90, the pawl 113 will move into the blank portion 112, which is devoid of teeth, and the racking wheel will stop rotating. By this time, the forward end of the leg control finger 8t) will have moved off of the leg earns 91 and the chain pawl 41 will be imparting movement to the pattern chain 16 in a step-by-step manner.

As the rack wheel 90 is moved to the position shown in FIGURE 8 by the pawl 113, the first starter pin 169 will move away from the first starter arm 151 and the second vertically movable starter pin 161 will engage and be raised by the cam surface 166 on the plate 124 as it passes over the same. When the wheel 90 stops, as the pawl 113 engages the blank portion 112, the lower surface of the pin 161 will be resting upon the upper surface of the plate 124, as shown in FIGURE 10, so that the upper end of the pin 161 will be positioned at a higher than normal elevation.

While the pawl 113 is in engagement with the blank portion 112 of the racking wheel 90, the heel pocket of the hose is knit. During the knitting of the heel pocket, the main pattern drum 52 is rotated in a step-by-step conventional manner to switch needles, actuate the widening and narrowing picks, make yarn changes, etc.

With movement of the pattern drum 52, the starter block 150 will be rotated in a clockwise direction until the second starter arm 152 engages the raised pin 161 and rotates the rack wheel 9%) to substantially the position shown in FIGURE 9. As the teeth on the outer periphery of the rack wheel 90 are moved beneath the working end of the racking pawl 113, the racking pawl 113 will impart continuous step-by-step movement to the rack wheel 0 in a clockwise direction in FIGURE 9.

As step-by-step movement is imparted to the rack wheel 99 by the racking pawl 113, the inner end of the foot control finger 81 will move up onto one of the foot cams 92 to thereby rock the foot control finger 81 in a clockwise direction in FIGURE 1. Rocking the foot control finger 81 will lower the bar 65 and raise the forward end of the pattern chain pawl control lever 60 to thereby raise the pattern chain pawl 41 out of racking engagement with the ratchet 43 to thereby idle or stop movement of the pattern chain 46. It will be noted in FIGURE 9 that the foot earns 92 also vary in length and the foot control finger can be moved into alinement with any of the foot cams to idle the pattern chain 46 for the desired length of time.

As the forward end of the foot control finger 81 moves off of the foot earns 92, the tension spring 72 (FIGURE 1) will raise the connector bar 65 and cause the forward end of the pattern chain pawl control lever 60 to be lowered out of engagement with the pattern chain racking pawl 41 to thereby allow the pawl 41 to again impart step-by-step movement to the pattern chain 46. The racking pawl 113 will continue step-by-step racking movement of the rack wheel 90 until the blank portion 111 is reached and then the racking wheel 90 will be back in proper position to knit the next succeeding hose.

As has been noted, the leg cams 91 and foot cams 92 on the upper surface of the rack wheel 90 vary in length and the control fingers 80 and 81 may be moved into alinement with any of the corresponding cams to idle the pattern chain 46 for the desired length of time during the knitting of corresponding portions of the leg and/or foot of the hose. If desired, the fingers 80 and 81 can be moved to the notches 75 at the right-hand end of the plate 74, those notches alined with the zeros on the indicator plate 76 in FIGURE 5, and the forward ends of the fingers 8i and 81 will be out of alinement with any of the earns 91 and 92. With the fingers 8t; and 81 in this position, the pattern chain 46 will be racked continuously throughout the knitting of the hose without being idled and the machine will knit the shortest hose possible.

The starter arms I51 and 152 are resiliently urged to the positions shown by the spring 155 (FIGURE 6) to engage the respective pins 160 and 161 and rotate the rack wheel 90 in a clockwise direction in FIGURE 3, in the manner heretofore described. The lower end of starter arm 152 is provided with a cam surface so that the rack wheel 90 may be turned by hand in a counterclockwise direction to reset the same. Then, when the fixed starter pin I60 engages the cam surface on the lower end of the starter arm 152, it will be raised up and the pin 160 will pass therebeneath.

In order to change the length of the leg and/ or foot of the hose with the present pattern chain idler, it is merely necessary for an operator to properly position the control fingers 80 and 81 along the shaft 82 before commencing the knitting of a hose. This operation requires only a few seconds of time and is much more accurate than the previous practice of adding or removing links in diiferent portions of the pattern chain 46. It will also be noted that the control fingers 8t) and 81 are positioned above the main frame of the machine and in a clear and easy accessible position.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a circular hosiery knitting machine having a pattern chain comprising a plurality of interconnected links :with each link normally representing a predetermined number of courses to be knit in the hose, and means including a reciprocating pawl for normally advancing said pattern chain in a uniform step-by-step manner; the combination therewith of a pattern chain idler comprising a control member for at times supporting said pawl in inoperative position to prevent movement of said pattern chain, a pattern wheel supported on said machine, drive means for imparting rotation to said pattern wheel, cam means carried by said pattern wheel, and control finger means engageable by said cam means and operatively connected to said control member, said control finger means being actuated by said cam means for maintaining said pawl in inoperative position for predetermined intervals of time during the knitting of selected portions of the hose to increase the effective length of I said pattern chain and coirespondingly increase the number of courses knit in the selected portions of the hose in accordance with the length of time said control member maintains said pawl in inoperative position.

2. In a circular hosiery knitting machine having a pattern chain comprising a plurality of interconnected links with each link normally representing a predetermined number of courses to be knit in the hose, and means including a reciprocating pawl for normally advancing said pattern chain in a uniform step-by-step manner; the combination therewith of a pattern chain idler comprising a control member for at times supporting said pawl in inoperative position to prevent movement of said pattern chain, a pattern wheel supported on said machine, drive means for imparting rotation to said pattern wheel, at least one set of cams of varying lengths carried by said pattern wheel, a control finger operatively connected to said control member and adjustably mounted for engagement by a selected one of said set of cams, said control finger being actuated by said selected cam for maintaining said pawl in inoperative position for a predetermined interval of time to increase the elfective length of said pattern chain and correspondingly increase the number of courses knit in a selected portion of the hose in accordance with the length of time said control finger is actuated by said selected cam.

3. In a circular hosiery knitting machine having a pattern chain comprising a plurality of interconnected links with each link normally representing a predetermined number of courses to be knit in the hose, and means including a reciprocating pawl for normally advancing said pattern chain in a uniform step-by-step manner; the combination therewith of a pattern chain idler comprising a control member for at times supporting said pawl in inoperative position to prevent movement of said pattern chain, a pattern wheel supported on said machine, drive means for imparting rotation to said pattern wheel, first cam means carried by said pattern wheel, a first control finger engageable by said first cam means and operatively connected to said control member, second cam means carried by said pattern wheel, a second control finger engageable by said second cam means and operatively connected to said control member, said first and second control fingers being respectively actuated by said first and second cam means for maintaining said pawl in inoperative position for predetermined intervals of time during the knitting of selected portions of the hose to increase the effective length of said pattern chain and correspondingly increase the number of courses knit in the selected portions of the hose in accordance with the length of time said control fingers are actuated by said cam means.

4. In a pattern chain idler according to claim 3 in which said first cam means comprises a first set of cams of varying lengths, said second cam means comprises a second set of cams of varying lengths, and including means for supporting said first and second control fingers for manual adjustment to position the same in alinement with selected ones of the respective first and second sets of cams.

5. In a circular hosiery knitting machine having a pattern chain comprising a plurality of interconnected links with each link normally representing a predetermined number of courses to be knit in the hose, and means including a reciprocating pawl for normally ad vancing said pattern chain in a uniform step-by-step manner; the combination therewith of a pattern chain idler comprising a control member for at times supporting said pawl in inoperative position to prevent movement of said pattern chain, a pattern wheel supported on said machine, drive means for imparting rotation to said pattern wheel, first cam means carried by said pattern wheel, a first control finger engageable by said first cam means and operatively connected to said control member, said first control finger being actuated by said first cam means for maintaining said pawl in inoperative position for a predetermined interval of time during the knitting of the leg of the hose, second cam means carried by said I pattern wheel, and a second control finger engageable by said second cam means and operatively connected to said control member, said second control finger being actuated by said second cam means for maintaining said pawl in inoperative position for a predetermined interval of time during the knitting of the foot of the hose.

6. In a circular hosiery knitting machine having a main frame, a main pattern drum supported on said frame, a pattern chain comprising a plurality of interconnected links with each link normally representing a predetermined number of courses to be knit in the hose and also controlling rotation of the main pattern drum, and means including a reciprocating pawl for normally advancing said pattern chain in a uniform step-by-step manner; the combination therewith of a pattern chain idler comprising a control member for at times supporting said pawl in inoperative position to prevent movement of said pattern chain, a pattern wheel supported on said machine, first drive means operatively responsive to movement of said main pattern drum for at times imparting rotation to said pattern wheel, second drive means for imparting rotation to said pattern wheel in response to movement of said pattern wheel by said first drive means, cam means carried by said pattern wheel, and control finger means engageable by said cam means and operatively connected to said control member, said control finger means being actuated by said cam means for maintaining said pawl in inoperative position for predetermined intervals of time during the knitting of selected portions of the hose.

7. In a pattern chain idler according to claim 6 in which said first drive means comprises a shaft drivingly connected to said main pattern drum and rotatably supporting said pattern wheel, a starter block fixed on said shaft, first and second starter arms carried by said starter block and overlying a portion of said pattern wheel, and first and second starter pins carried by said pattern wheel and positioned in the path of travel of said starter arms, said first and second starter arms being engageable with said first and second starter pins respectively when said shaft and starter block are rotated by said main pattern drum to thereby impart rotation to said pattern wheel.

8. In a pattern chain idler according to claim 7 wherein said first starter pin is fixed in said pattern wheel and said second starter pin is mounted for vertical movement in said pattern wheel, and including resilient means normally urging said second starter pin to a lower position, and cam means engageable with the lower end of said second starter pin to raise the same to an upper position.

9. In a pattern chain idler according to claim 7 in which said second drive means comprises first and second series of racking teeth on the periphery of said pattern wheel, first and second blank portions on the periphery of said pattern wheel separating the first and second series of racking teeth, a racking pawl engaging the periphery of said pattern wheel, and means for imparting continuous reciprocation to said pawl to thereby rotate said pattern Wheel when said pawl is in engagement with said first and second series of teeth.

10. In a circular hosiery knitting machine having a main frame, a main pattern drum supported on said frame, a pattern chain comprising a plurality of interconnected links with each link normally representing a predetermined number of courses to be knit in the hose and also controlling rotation of the main pattern drum, and means including a reciprocating pawl for normally advancing said pattern chain in a unifom step-by-step manner; the combination therewith of a pattern chain idler comprising a control member for at times supporting said pawl in inoperative position to prevent movement of said pattern chain, a pattern wheel supported on said machine, first drive means comprising a shaft drivingly connected to said main pattern drum and rotatably supporting said pattern wheel, a starter block fixed on said shaft, first and second starter arms carried by said starter block and overlying a portion of said pattern Wheel, first and second starter pins carried by said pattern wheel and positioned in the path of travel of said starter arms, said first and second starter arms being engageable with said first and second starter pins respectively when said shaft and starter block are rotated by said main pattern drum to thereby impart rotation to said pattern wheel, second drive means comprising first and second series of racking teeth on the periphery of said pattern wheel, first and second blank portions on the periphery of said pattern wheel separating the first and second series of racking teeth, a racking pawl engaging the periphery of said pattern wheel, means for imparting continuous reciprocation to said pawl to thereby rotate said pattern wheel when said pawl is in engagement with said first and second series of teeth, cam means carried by said pattern wheel, and control finger means engageable by said cam means and operatively connected to said control member, said control finger means being actuated by said cam means for maintaining said pawl in inoperative position for predetermined intervals of time during the knitting of selected portions of the hose.

11. In a circular hosiery knitting machine having a main frame, a main pattern drum supported on said frame, a pattern chain comprising a plurality of interconnected links with each link normally representing a predetermined number of courses to be knit in the hose and also controlling rotation of the main pattern drum, and means including a reciprocating pawl for normally advancing said pattern chain in a uniform step-by-step manner; the combination therewith of a pattern chain idler comprising a control member for at times supporting said pawl in inoperative position to prevent movement of said pattern chain, a pattern wheel supported on said machine, first drive means comprising a shaft drivingly connected to said main pattern drum and rototably supporting said pattern wheel, a starter block fixed on said shaft, first and second starter arms carried by said starter block and overlying a portion of said pattern wheel, first and second starter pins carried by said pattern wheel and positioned in the path of travel of said starter arms, said first and second starter arms being engageable with said first and second starter pins respectively when said shaft and starter block are rotated by said main pattern drum to thereby impart rotation to said pattern wheel, second drive means comprising first and second series of racking teeth on the periphery of said pattern wheel, first and second blank portions on the periphery of said pattern wheel separating the first and second series of racking teeth, a racking pawl engaging the periphery of said pattern wheel, means for imparting continuous reciprocation to said pawl to thereby rotate said pattern wheel when said pawl is in engagement with said first and second series of teeth, at least one set of cams of varying lengths carried by said pattern wheel, and a control finger engageable by a selected one of said set of cams and operatively connected to said control member, said control finger being actuated by said selected cam for maintaining said pawl in inoperative position for a predetermined interval of time during the knitting of a selected portion of the hose.

12. In a circular hosiery knitting machine having a main frame, a main pattern drum supported on said frame, a pattern chain comprising a plurality of interconnected links with each link normally rcpresenting a predetermined number of courses knit in the hose and also controlling rotation of the main pattern drum, and means including a reciprocating pawl for normally advancing said pattern chain in a uniform step-by-step manner; the combination therewith of a pattern chain idler comprising a control member for at times supporting said pawl in inoperative position to prevent movement of said pattern chain, a pattern wheel supported on said machine, first drive means comprising a shaft drivingly connected to said main pattern drum and rotatably supporting said pattern Wheel, a starter block fixed on said shaft, first and second starter arms carried by said starter block and overlying a portion of said pattern wheel, first and second starter pins carried by said pattern wheel and positioned in the path of travel of said starter arms, said first and second starter arms being engageable with said first and second starter pins respectively when said shaft and starter block are rotated by said main pattern drum to thereby impart rotation to said pattern wheel, second drive means comprising first and second series of racking teeth on the periphery of said pattern wheel, first and second blank 13 portions on the periphery of said pattern wheel separating the first and second series of racking teeth, a racking pawl engaging the periphery of said pattern wheel, means for imparting continuous reciprocation to said pawl to thereby rotate said pattern wheel when said pawl is in engagement with said first and second series of teeth, first cam means carried by said pattern wheel, a first control finger engageable by said first cam means and operatively connected to said control member, said first control finger being actuated by said first cam means for maintaining said pawl in inoperative position for a predetermined interval of time during the knitting of the leg of the hose,

second cam means carried by said pattern Wheel, and a second control finger engageable by said second cam means and operatively connected to said control member, said second control finger being actuated by said second cam means for maintaining said pawl in inoperative position for a predetermined interval of time during the knitting of the foot of the hose.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

